Most leaders don’t realise they’re running an airport. – By Alok Das
Every day, planes are landing. Some are small commuter flights (minor updates). Others are jumbo jets (massive restructures).
Each one demands fuel, a crew, and a runway.
The problem? Most leaders are standing on the tarmac. They’re trying to wave the planes down with flashlights.
They’re exhausted, overwhelmed, and smelling like jet fuel.
I worked with an Executive who described their culture as “pure chaos”. They were reacting to every landing. People were burnt out. Projects were crashing.
I told them: “Get off the tarmac. Go to the control tower.”
Here is the mental shift:
Projects = Planes
Capacity = Runways
Leadership = Air Traffic Control
If you let 5 jumbo jets land on one runway at the same time? That’s not “agility.” That’s a disaster.
We built a Change Heatmap, their radar screen. Suddenly, they could see the bottlenecks before they happened.
They saw which teams were “circling” and running out of fuel.
The shift was immediate:
They stopped firefighting.
They started sequencing.
They became the Air Traffic Controller.
Their takeaway?
“I’m not just managing change. I’m directing traffic.”
The lesson: Change isn’t about how much you can absorb. It’s about how well you can sequence.
Stop flying blind. Build your radar.
Are you on the tarmac or in the tower? 👇
